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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
[Quality of life in children with short stature: an analysis using PedsQL]
Xuan Xu, Jie Wen1, Dan-Xia Peng
1Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Pediatric Medical Center of Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, Changsha 410002, China. xuxuan@126.com.
Insights
Children with short stature experience poorer psychosocial function and quality of life compared to their peers. This study highlights challenges in physical activity, emotional well-being, and cognitive tasks for these children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric endocrinology
- Child psychology
- Quality of life research
Context:
- Short stature affects children's daily lives and psychosocial development.
- Understanding these impacts is crucial for targeted interventions and support.
Purpose:
- To compare the quality of life and psychosocial functioning between children with short stature and normal stature.
- To identify specific areas of difficulty experienced by children with short stature.
Summary:
- A study using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) surveyed 53 children with short stature and 79 healthy controls.
- Children with short stature reported greater difficulties in physical activities, emotional well-being, and cognitive tasks compared to controls.
- Parent proxy reports indicated challenges in sleep, attention, and schoolwork for children with short stature.
Impact:
- Findings indicate that children with short stature exhibit poorer psychosocial development.
- This research underscores the need for comprehensive care addressing the psychosocial well-being of children with short stature.
Objective:
To study the differences in quality of life and psychosocial function between children with short stature and children with normal stature.
Methods:
The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) was used to survey 53 children aged 5-18 years who were diagnosed with short stature between June 2011 and June 2012, and their parents or guardians. Seventy-nine healthy children aged 4-17 years were selected as the control group.
Results:
For PedsQL Child-Self Report, the children with short stature had a significantly higher total score than the control children (25.3±11.2 vs 21.1±10.3; P<0.05), and the former had significantly higher scores than the latter on the following items: It is hard for me to walk more than one block; It is hard for me to lift something heavy; I hurt or ache; I worry about what will happen to me; I cannot do things that other kids of my age can do; It is hard to keep up when I play with other kids; It is hard to pay attention in class; I forget things; I have trouble keeping up with my schoolwork (P<0.05). For PedsQL Parent-Proxy Report, the children with short stature had significantly higher scores than the control children on the following items: troubled sleeping; paying attention in class; keeping up with schoolwork; forgetting things (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in total score, however, between the two groups (P>0.05).
Conclusions:
Children with short stature have poorer development of psychosocial function than children with normal stature.
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